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The war crimes trial has begun.

The location was originally Nuremberg, just like in history.

While several candidate locations such as London, Moscow, and Vienna in the Danube Federation were considered, it was ultimately decided to proceed with Nuremberg as in original history.

The trial for war criminals from Communist Germany, Communist Italy, and the French Commune is now taking place here.

The judges in charge of the trial are nations that suffered from communism.

Denmark, the Kingdom of Poland, the Low Countries, Britain, the Danube, and Ethiopia have all dispatched particularly passionate judges, with Russia also sending a judge.

Preparations for the trial moved forward without a hitch, and an International Military Tribunal was established in Nuremberg.

In fact, it felt a bit rushed.

There was a need to quickly declare the end of communism and promote that Europe has now regained peace.

Moreover, if we were to prepare for dealing with Japan, there was no reason to hold the trial leisurely.

The military police responsible for security at the trial mainly came from the German Empire and the Danube.

The Germans were soldiers of the Second Empire, having followed the Kaiser to East Prussia, and the Danube soldiers were those familiar with the battles of the Sudetenland.

The gazes directed at the war criminals seemed like they could tear them apart at any moment.

Additionally, there were British military police who had been imprisoned in Dachau, near death, and the criminals now found themselves in a position where they had to beg for mercy in front of soldiers from the imperialist nations they despised.

If those red criminals committed any useless actions, they would immediately be beaten without mercy.

“I would have just exterminated them if it weren’t for the other nations. Tsk.”

In such a situation, I could only grumble.

What did I do to be forced to watch the trial of those red bastards?

Such thoughts flashed through my mind.

But still, I am a person who understands loyalty. Even for the sake of settling grievances from other nations, this trial was necessary.

In any case, amidst the cold gazes of the resentful military police, the reds had to tremble in fear.

The red war criminals, without distinguishing nationality, had representatives such as Thorez and Goebbels, with names like Keitel, Jodl, Rundstedt, Gameling, Mussolini, Graziani, Italo Balbo, and many others listed, along with soldiers whose names I hadn’t even heard.

If Manstein hadn’t surrendered to the anti-aircraft coalition army at the proper time, he might have been unjustly here, and Churchill may have strongly demanded the trial.

Upon hearing the news of the war crimes trial, the citizens of the victorious nations rejoiced, believing that they had truly won the war.

“Today, the beer is free!”

“Damn reds! Churchill, avenge my brother who died in Dunkirk quickly!”

“Ah, this is Russia.”

“I guess this is how the British and French felt during World War I.”

And finally, the trial began.

Though they intended to execute them anyway, the judges from each country swallowed their anger and began listing the crimes of the war criminals exhaustively, marking the official start of the proceedings.

And, of course, the reds had no intention of acknowledging their charges.

“I am innocent!”

Goebbels, granted the opportunity for a defense, claimed innocence with a frantic face.

Honestly, aside from the Danish invasion, the start of the war was initiated by the Allied forces, so one could argue that he could be seen as innocent from that perspective.

“I will not deny that I intended to fight against you imperialists for world revolution someday. However, it was you imperialists who started the war first! You colonizers invaded us out of fear that a revolution would occur internally!”

“Are you saying that the invasion of Denmark was also innocent?”

“The war in Denmark ended in less than a few hours, barely qualifying as a conflict. Moreover, Denmark is a monarchy like a colonial empire, and I must be clear that if it weren’t for the lack of revolution in Denmark, we would have had to defend ourselves against your invasion there! It was a legitimate preemptive war, an act done for the revolution of the Danish workers!”

Oh, that’s classic Goebbels. His mouth is running wild.

“The attack on the Danube was justified too, as the Danube was an anti-aircraft coalition nation, capable of stabbing us at any moment, so we attacked first! They are the ones who initiated invasion and are now absurdly feigning victimhood and getting angry! The hypocrisy of the imperialists is disgusting!”

“Comrade Goebbels is right! You vile imperialists! I too dismantled the invasion-leading republic and established a communist state!”

Goebbels and Thorez were particularly making a fuss.

The other war criminals seemed too intimidated to voice opposition, simply nodding along.

Certainly, they were likely overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

One wrong word, and they might get beaten right here.

“If you feel wronged or indignant, you should have won. The excuses of the defeated carry no value, no matter what legitimacy is bestowed upon them. From the moment you chose communism, you were merely living criminals.”

Suddenly, all the judges turned their gaze toward me as I blurted this out.

Leaders and soldiers from several Allied nations, including Churchill, were laughing at my statement.

Wasn’t that how the Nazi Germans had spoken? How come this sounded the same?

With faces flushed with rage, Goebbels and Thorez glared at me as if they wanted to kill me, but what would they do?

“My actions represented all workers. For the freedom of workers around the world! It was an action for true revolution! Our revolution for the workers is innocent!”

Although his words flowed eloquently, it seemed like he struggled to even get angry.

I thought it was amusing to just sit back and watch him ramble on, but it seemed he was quite exhausted from being cooped up in the underground bunker.

“Defendant, listen. We are not conducting this trial in a barbaric manner like the people’s courts that communists would hold. You would do well to stay quiet before we revoke your opportunity to stand trial.”

“Hah! Now you’re even dirtying the trial proceedings!”

Goebbels jumped to his feet at the judge’s threat, but the military police stopped him from rising.

“Will the defendant acknowledge that you incited revolutions in the colonies of the anti-aircraft coalition countries like Britain and France, leading to attacks on the anti-aircraft coalition countries, and ruthlessly slaughtered innocent people for ideological differences?”

“I will not acknowledge! What’s wrong with capturing the scum of the colonial empires?”

“Very well then.”

Aside from Goebbels and Thorez, no one really argued vehemently against their charges, but they all claimed their innocence to the fullest.

As expected of those who hold people’s courts, they completely disregarded the law and maintained that the people they killed were merely blocking the workers’ revolution and thus deserved death. Many voiced such claims. However, most of the generals from the French People’s Army, having once fought alongside the British, seemed to have some sense of conscience and admitted their crimes.

“I acknowledge my guilt.”

Only the leaders of the Commune and the German Communist Party claimed innocence, while everyone else, even those who were lesser-known, had to admit their guilt.

Communists are not human; they are simply insects.

They must be aware of being referred to as such, so rather than be treated like insects dying for real, they likely opted for the dignity of dying as humans.

A notable exception was Mussolini.

“To me, communism is merely an idealistic ideology for rebuilding Rome.”

“Hah, are you desperately making excuses to live?”

“Excuses? If I valued this pitiful life so much, I wouldn’t have even started a war. I simply regret losing the competition with the Empress of Byzantium to determine who the true successor of Rome is. As a loser, I will admit my crimes and accept the judgment. If one were to doubt my sincerity, they need only look at the red plan of Rome in my desk drawer to understand.”

This guy is an exceptional case.

Honestly, it would be right to say that looking at Germany’s state, he believed that Rome needed communism. His ambitions of restoring Italy and stating the need for living space were clear. It didn’t feel like an excuse to me.

He probably genuinely regarded World War II as a war to determine who truly was the successor of Rome against Russia.

“Then are you saying you wouldn’t care if you received a death sentence?”

“That’s correct. If I die and Italy is divided, but Russia continues to proclaim itself as the successor of Rome, I have no regrets.”

Admitting it so openly was even somewhat pitiable.

It would have been more interesting if he begged for his life instead; instead, he seemed lost in his own mood, resembling a sage, while the Chief Judge of Ethiopia, who had nearly faced the destruction of his country from the Italian forces, was turning as red as his dark skin with anger but could do nothing.

“Have you seen such a traitor? You accepted communism for the reconstruction of Rome! You should rather claim innocence! Get angry!”

“Rome is but a ghost of the past. Did you really widen the front to resurrect Rome?”

Mussolini’s statements, which rejected the legitimacy of the reds, made Goebbels and Thorez furious, but for us, it was all very entertaining.

In fact, I began to wonder if this guy truly was an honorary anti-communist.

“Now, that’s quite distressing.”

“Indeed.”

While I had come to witness this historical moment with allied leaders, it felt sour.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the Ethiopian issue, I would almost feel sympathy to spare his life.

His actions had actually made things easier in the war.

To put it bluntly, if Mussolini’s attack hadn’t broken through the Danube Mountain Division and marched to Vienna, the Danube would have fragmented once more, and if he hadn’t attacked Greece, Communist Germany wouldn’t have been short on troops.

Personally, I considered him akin to Mutaguchi Renya of Italy.

However, unlike us who were watching with amusement, Haile Selassie seemed intent on seizing this guy and killing him.

And since the UK was still battling Japan, the trial was quickened to a rapid conclusion.

After all, it was merely a formality, so there was no need to waste too much time on these insects.

The red leadership, still claiming they represented the workers and revolution, proclaimed their innocence, but the outcome was already settled.

The remaining individuals were sent to the Dachau and Siberian concentration camps under the pretext of labor correction, or to other countries as they preferred.

I believe the majority ended up with life sentences or 25-year terms.

And for the Communist Party leadership scheduled for execution, I was able to witness the execution site myself.

The Free French condemned Thorez, the root of the nation’s division, and had him hanged by the Free French Army while Thorez shouted for world revolution until his death.

Goebbels attempted to commit suicide but was forcibly restrained and similarly hanged, and the majority of those who survived in the bunker met their end in that manner.

Italian figures, including Mussolini, were mostly taken away by Haile Selassie, who personally declared he would execute them in Ethiopia.

With this, communism in Europe was completely finished.

Now, I must return to Moscow.

Having done much on the European front, I need some time to unwind.

I’ve thrown out the bait regarding the colonies and the Rome Treaty Organization issues. After taking a break, I plan to push for the independence of Japan’s Asian colonies alongside the British and French colonies right after the war with Japan concludes.

Churchill’s Britain will likely engage in image laundering, as in original history. Frankly, the main concern is France.

The mainland has shrunk significantly.

With the north torn away by Nazi Germany, Burgundy has been cut off as a republic, completely ruining whatever pride was left.

Moreover, it’s publicly known that Burgundy is gathering pro-Russian figures to form a government, so I believe Pétain may just drop dead from the shock.

There’s no way they can let go of Algeria or French Indochina.

I suspect they will soon bring up the issue of French Indochina once they manage to properly establish a government on the mainland.

After all, they’ll likely only maintain a Self-Defense Force, and while hanging onto the colonies may seem pointless, we’ll see what happens then. If they plan to use the Self-Defense Force to oppress the colonies, we can deal with that when the time comes.

So that matter will be resolved later.

Vladimir has also accomplished quite a bit, so he will surely be acknowledged as my successor.

By the way.

“It is his Majesty the Emperor’s command! Hang these bastards at the gas station!”

“Guh! The Lion King shows mercy by not executing us outright and rather humiliating us!”

“Aaaah!”

Mussolini and his wife Clara Petacci were hung alive at the gas station, enduring the anger of the Ethiopian people for several days.

After a while, Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci, having tasted the wrath of Ethiopia, were hanged.

Even the hanging was deliberately executed in such a way that they suffered for dozens of minutes before dying, and shortly after, their corpses were incinerated, like those of the other war criminals, and their ashes poured into the Red Sea.

 

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